Demand-based charging of a heat pipe

ABSTRACT

A heat pipe includes a reservoir of liquid that is connected to a horizontal portion of the heat pipe via a capillary connection. The heat pipe includes a temperature sensor in proximity to a heat interface in the horizontal portion and a controller that controls a heater for the reservoir. As power into the heat pipe increases, the controller turns on the heater, causing the temperature of the liquid in the reservoir to rise. Liquid then passes from the reservoir through the capillary connection into the horizontal portion, thereby dynamically increasing the amount of liquid in the heat pipe, which increases performance of the heat pipe at higher power levels. When the heater is off, as the heat pipe cools, the liquid condenses and flows back through the capillary connection into the reservoir. The result is a heat pipe that provides demand-based charging of the liquid based on power level.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

This disclosure generally relates to heat pipes, and more specificallyrelates to a heat pipe that includes one or more reservoirs that providedemand-based charging.

2. Background Art

A heat pipe is used to transfer heat between a hot interface and a coldinterface. The heat pipe includes a liquid in contact with a thermallyconductive solid surface at the hot interface. When the hot interfaceheats up, the liquid turns into a vapor by absorbing heat from the hotinterface. The vapor then travels along the heat pipe to the coldinterface and condenses back into liquid, which releases the latentheat. The liquid then returns to the hot interface, and the cyclerepeats. Heat pipes are highly effective thermal conductors, with aneffective thermal conductivity orders of magnitude larger than for otherheat transfer methods, such as a solid metal like copper.

Heat pipes are charged with a liquid. The amount of liquid in the heatpipe determines the performance of the heat pipe. As the rate of heatenergy absorbed by the heat pipe increases, there is a possibility allof the liquid will turn to vapor. At this point, the temperature of thevapor within the pipe will begin to rapidly increase. As a result, thethermal resistance of the heat pipe increases exponentially.Consequently, most known heat pipes are usually overcharged or saturatedwith the liquid to avoid the increase of thermal resistance caused byturning all of the liquid into vapor. However, at lower heat energyrates, the performance of heat pipes that are overcharged or saturatedis less than heat pipes that are charged with less liquid.

Heat pipes are commonly used in heat sinks for modern electronics, suchas processors. To assure the heat sinks work properly when the processoris functioning at high power, the heat pipes in heat sinks are typicallyovercharged or saturated with liquid. This same heat pipe will work lessefficiently at a lower power, meaning the temperature of the processorwill be higher than if a heat pipe that were less charged with liquidwere used. Thus, the designer of a heat sink that uses a heat pipe mustmake a tradeoff between performance of the heat sink at lower powers andperformance of the heat sink at higher powers. Because excessively hightemperatures can cause a catastrophic failure in a processor, thedecision is usually made to overcharge or saturate the heat pipes in aprocessor heat sink so they can handle maximum processor power.

SUMMARY

A heat pipe includes a reservoir of liquid that is connected to ahorizontal portion of the heat pipe via a capillary connection. The heatpipe includes a temperature sensor in proximity to a heat interface inthe horizontal portion and a controller that controls a heater for thereservoir. As power into the heat pipe increases, the controller turnson the heater, causing the temperature of the liquid in the reservoir torise. Liquid then passes from the reservoir through the capillaryconnection into the horizontal portion, thereby dynamically increasingthe amount of liquid in the heat pipe, which increases performance ofthe heat pipe at higher power levels. When the reservoir heater isturned off, as the heat pipe cools, the liquid condenses and flows backthrough the capillary connection into the reservoir. The result is aheat pipe that is more efficient at lower power levels and stillmaintains high efficiency at higher power levels due to the demand-basedcharging of the liquid based on power level.

The foregoing and other features and advantages will be apparent fromthe following more particular description, as illustrated in theaccompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING(S)

The disclosure will be described in conjunction with the appendeddrawings, where like designations denote like elements, and:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a heat sink that includes a heat pipe;

FIG. 2 is a graph showing thermal resistance as a function of power forthe heat sink in FIG. 1 based on different levels of liquid in the heatpipe;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a heat sink that includes a heat pipe thathas a reservoir coupled to the horizontal portion of the heat pipe via acapillary connection;

FIG. 4 is a graph showing thermal resistance as a function of power forthe heat sink in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of a method for manufacturing a heat pipe; and

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of a method of operation for the heat pipe inFIG. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The disclosure and claims herein relate to a heat pipe that includes areservoir of liquid that is connected to a horizontal portion of theheat pipe via a capillary connection. The heat pipe includes atemperature sensor in proximity to a heat interface in the horizontalportion and a controller that controls a heater for the reservoir. Aspower into the heat pipe increases, the controller turns on the heater,causing the temperature of the liquid in the reservoir to rise. Liquidthen passes from the reservoir through the capillary connection into thehorizontal portion, thereby dynamically increasing the amount of liquidin the heat pipe, which increases performance of the heat pipe at higherpower levels. When the reservoir heater is turned off, as the heat pipecools, the liquid condenses and flows back through the capillaryconnection into the reservoir. The result is a heat pipe that is moreefficient at lower power levels and still maintains high efficiency athigher power levels due to the demand-based charging of the liquid basedon power level.

Referring to FIG. 1, a heat sink 100 is shown that includes a heat pipe105 in a U-shape with vertical portions 110 and 120 coupled to a commonhorizontal portion 130. The horizontal portion 130 is charged with afirst quantity of a liquid. The heat sink 100 includes an interface 155on the bottom surface of horizontal portion 130 that thermally couples aheat source 140 to the heat pipe 105 to transfer heat away from the heatsource 140. One example of a heat source is an integrated circuit, suchas a processor. The heat sink 100 includes multiple fins 150 as known inthe art that help dissipate heat in the heat pipe 105.

Performance of the heat sink 100 is shown graphically in FIG. 2, withthermal resistance of the heat sink plotted as a function of power forvarious levels of liquid charging in the heat pipe. Note that heat sink100 shown in FIG. 1 in the prior art would typically be charged with afixed level of liquid during manufacture then sealed, which means thatknown heat sinks have a performance defined by their fixed liquidcharge. FIG. 2 shows multiple lines that each represents performance ofa heat sink such as heat sink 100 with a different charge of liquid.Line 210 shows performance of the heat sink 100 when the heat pipe 105has a very low charge of liquid. Line 220 shows performance of the heatsink 100 when the heat pipe 105 has a low charge of liquid. Line 230shows performance of the heat sink 100 when the heat pipe 105 has anominal charge of liquid. Line 240 shows performance of the heat sink100 when the heat pipe 105 has an overcharge of liquid. And line 250shows performance of the heat sink 100 when the heat pipe 105 issaturated with liquid. At a lower power shown in FIG. 2 at 260, thethermal resistance of the heat pipe with lesser liquid charges is lessthan the thermal resistance of the heat pipe with greater liquidcharges. But the lesser liquid charges increase in thermal resistance atsignificantly lower power than for greater liquid charges. FIG. 2 showsgraphically why most manufacturers of heat sinks that use heat pipes usean overcharge of liquid or saturation of liquid in the heat pipes, sincehigher powers can lead to catastrophic failure in integrated circuits,and heat pipes with an overcharge of saturation of liquid will operateat much higher powers without a significant increase of thermalresistance.

An improved heat sink 300 is shown in FIG. 3, which includes a heat pipe305 in a U-shape with vertical portions 310 and 320 coupled to a commonsubstantially horizontal portion 330. The heat pipe 305 includes aninterface 355 on the bottom surface of the substantially horizontalportion 330 that thermally couples a heat source 340 to the heat pipe305 to transfer heat away from the heat source 340. Heat source 340could be an integrated circuit, such as a processor. In the mostpreferred implementation, the substantially horizontal portion 330overlies the interface 355 and is charged with a first quantity of aliquid. The heat sink 300 includes multiple fins 350 that are thermallycoupled to the heat pipe to help dissipate heat in the heat pipe 305.

Heat pipe 305 includes a reservoir 360 that is coupled to thesubstantially horizontal portion 330 via a capillary connection 380.Reservoir 360 is preferably charged with a second quantity of liquid370. A heater 392 is thermally coupled to the reservoir 360 to heat theliquid 370. Heater 392 is turned on and off by a controller 390, whichis coupled to a temperature sensor 394 in proximity to the interface355. Note the term “proximity” can mean any suitable distance. In oneimplementation, the temperature sensor 394 is placed adjacent theinterface 355. In another implementation, the temperature sensor 294 isplaced farther away from the interface 355 at a convenient location. Ineither case, the controller 390 can be programmed to activate the heater392 when the temperature sensor senses a temperature above some definedthreshold.

The temperature sensor 394 can be any suitable sensor that is capable ofsensing a temperature. For example, a thermistor is one suitableimplementation for temperature sensor 394. Other implementations couldalso be used, including other types of analog temperature sensors, anddigital temperature sensors that communicate the temperature tocontroller 390 via a digital communication link.

The capillary connection 380 between the substantially horizontalportion 330 and the reservoir 360 can have any suitable diameter anddesign that provides capillary action. For example, the capillaryconnection 380 is preferably a cylindrical connection with a diameter of10 micrometers to 2 millimeters (mm). In a more specific implementation,the capillary connection has a diameter of 0.1 mm to 0.3 mm. In the mostpreferred implementation, the capillary connection has a diameter of0.15 mm. In addition, the capillary connection could include anysuitable coating. For example, if water is the liquid being used, ahydrophobic coating may be placed on the inner surface of the capillaryconnection 380, which can alter the flow properties between thereservoir 360 and the substantially horizontal portion 330. With ahydrophobic coating, liquid will flow from the reservoir 360 to thesubstantially horizontal portion 330 when the reservoir 360 is coolerthan the substantially horizontal portion 330. In the absence of ahydrophobic coating on the interior surface of the capillary connection380, liquid could be forced from the reservoir 360 to the substantiallyhorizontal portion 330 by increasing the temperature of the reservoir360 using heater 392 such that the reservoir 360 is at a highertemperature than the substantially horizontal portion 330.

When the power level of the heat sink is low, the second quantity of theliquid 370 in the reservoir 360 is isolated by the capillary connection380 from the first quantity of the liquid in the substantiallyhorizontal portion 330. When the power level of the heat sink increases,the temperature sensed by the temperature sensor 394 increases. Once thetemperature sensed by the temperature sensor 394 exceeds a definedthreshold value, the controller 390 turns on the heater 392. Turning onthe heater 392 causes the temperature of the liquid 370 in the reservoir360 to rise, and once the temperature is more than the temperature inthe substantially horizontal portion 330, the liquid 370 will flowthrough the capillary connection 380 from the reservoir 360 to thesubstantially horizontal portion 330. This preferably causes the aportion of the second quantity of liquid 370 to combine with the firstquantity of the liquid in the substantially horizontal portion 330,resulting in total liquid that is equal to the sum of the first quantityand the portion of the second quantity that moved through the capillaryconnection into the substantially horizontal portion. As the temperaturein the heat pipe decreases after the heater 392 is turned off, theliquid will move from the substantially horizontal portion 330 throughthe capillary connection 380 to the reservoir 360. The reservoir 360 andcapillary connection 380 thus provide a way to dynamically change theliquid charge of the heat pipe under control of the controller 390.

The performance of the heat pipe 305 is a function of the size of thereservoir 360, the size of the capillary connection 380, the number ofpower levels for the heater 392, and the function of the controller 390,according to the temperature sensed by the temperature sensor 394.Heater 392 may include multiple different power levels instead of beingjust on or off. One skilled in the art will understand based on thedisclosure herein how to select the function of the controller 390 toachieve a desired dynamic liquid charge in the heat pipe 305 to providea specific desired functionality. With an appropriate design of the heatpipe 305, the performance can closely approximate the performance shownin FIG. 4.

By providing a heat sink with a heat pipe that includes a reservoir asshown in FIG. 3, the performance of the heat pipe increases due to thedynamic charging of liquid into the heap pipe as the temperature (andhence, power) rises. A graph of the performance of the heat sink 300shown in FIG. 3 is shown in FIG. 4. This example assumes the reservoir360 is filled with liquid during manufacture of the heat sink, and thesubstantially horizontal portion 330 of the heat pipe otherwise has avery low charge of liquid besides the liquid in the reservoir 360. Thelinear portion 410 in FIG. 4 is the same as the linear portion of line210 in FIG. 2. We assume, however, that at a temperature just before thebend in the line 430 that shows an increase in thermal resistance for avery lightly charged heat pipe, liquid begins to move from the reservoir360 through the capillary connection 380 to the substantially horizontalportion 330. This increases the amount of liquid in the heat pipe. Thisis why the heat pipe herein has dynamic charging of liquid. Theperformance at portion 420 in FIG. 4 is linear with power until asufficient power is reached that the thermal resistance increasesdramatically, as shown at 440. Note that 440 corresponds to the upperportion of line 240 in FIG. 2. Comparing the performance in FIG. 4 tothe performance in FIG. 2 shows the performance of the heat sink 300 inFIG. 3 is optimized across all operating temperatures. At lowtemperatures, the heat sink 300 has the performance of a heat pipe thatis very lightly charged. But as the temperature increases, the chargingliquid in the reservoir is released. The dynamic charging of liquid inthe heat pipe 305 in FIG. 3 provides much better performance than a heatpipe 105 that does not have a reservoir that provides dynamic charging,as shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 shows a method 500 for manufacturing the heat sink 300 shown inFIG. 3. Note that many other steps could be included in themanufacturing process, as known in the art. A liquid reservoir isprovided near a heat pipe (step 510). The liquid reservoir is attachedto the inside of the heat pipe via a suitable capillary connection (step520). The reservoir is filled with liquid (step 530). The heat pipe isthen charged with liquid (step 540) and sealed (step 550). It is knownin the art to evacuate all the air in the heat pipe before sealing. Thecontroller is then programmed for the desired operation (step 560). Notethe manufacturing process shown in FIG. 5 includes one or more stepsthat are not performed when manufacturing known heat pipes. The resultis a heat pipe with increased thermal performance due to the dynamiccharging of liquid in the heat pipe as the temperature of the heat piperises.

Note the programming of the controller 390 in step 560 determinesperformance of the heat pipe. Controller 390 can be any suitable form ofcontroller that is capable of reading any suitable temperature sensorand in response, turning the heater 392 on and off. For example,controller 390 could be a simple state machine. In the alternative, thecontroller 390 could be a microcontroller that includes one or moreinputs for reading the temperature sensor 394 and one or more outputsfor turning the heater 392 on and off. The disclosure and claims hereinexpressly extend to any suitable implementation of controller 390 withany suitable level of functionality that causes liquid 370 to flowthrough the capillary connection 380 into the substantially horizontalportion 330 when the level of liquid in the heat pipe needs to bedynamically increased, and that causes liquid to flow from thesubstantially horizontal portion 330 through the capillary connection380 into the reservoir 360 when the level of liquid in the heat pipeneeds to be dynamically decreased.

FIG. 6 shows a method 600 that represents how the heat pipe 305 in FIG.3 works. We assume the heat pipe is in the condition shown in FIG. 3when method 600 initially begins. As long as the temperature read by thecontroller 390 from the temperature sensor 394 is below a definedthreshold temperature (step 620=NO), method 600 loops back and continuesuntil the threshold temperature is reached (step 620=YES). In response,the controller turns on the reservoir heater (step 630). Once thetemperature of the reservoir is hotter than the temperature of thesubstantially horizontal portion 330, the liquid 370 in the reservoir360 flows through the capillary connection 380 into the substantiallyhorizontal portion 330 of the heat pipe (step 640). After the heater isturned off, as the temperature in the reservoir drops, liquid condensesand flows from the substantially horizontal portion 330 to the reservoir360 through the capillary connection 380 (step 650). Method 600 is thendone.

Note that method 600 could include steps that turn the heater on or offat different temperatures, or to turn the heater power up or down whenthe heater has multiple power settings, in order to achieve anequilibrium at a given power level, where liquid is not moving in eitherdirection through the capillary connection. The programming of thecontroller would thus allow tuning the performance of the heat pipeaccording to the specific design and power levels.

While a single reservoir 360 is shown in FIG. 3, multiple reservoirscould also be used. These multiple reservoirs could have differentthresholds in the controller 390 for turning on their respectiveheaters, and their heaters may have multiple power levels, therebyproviding a level of granularity regarding how much water is added tothe heat pipe and at what temperatures.

Any suitable liquid may be used to charge the heat pipe disclosedherein. The suitability of the liquid depends on factors such as thematerial used to form the heat pipe and the desired performance of theheat pipe. For heat sinks used for integrated circuits, the preferredmaterial for the heat pipe is copper, and the preferred liquid is water.

A heat pipe includes a reservoir of liquid that is connected to ahorizontal portion of the heat pipe via a capillary connection. The heatpipe includes a temperature sensor in proximity to a heat interface inthe horizontal portion and a controller that controls a heater for thereservoir. As power into the heat pipe increases, the controller turnson the heater, causing the temperature of the liquid in the reservoir torise. Liquid then passes from the reservoir through the capillaryconnection into the horizontal portion, thereby dynamically increasingthe amount of liquid in the heat pipe, which increases performance ofthe heat pipe at higher power levels. When the reservoir heater isturned off, as the heat pipe cools, the liquid condenses and flows backthrough the capillary connection into the reservoir. The result is aheat pipe that is more efficient at lower power levels and stillmaintains high efficiency at higher power levels due to the demand-basedcharging of the liquid based on power level.

One skilled in the art will appreciate that many variations are possiblewithin the scope of the claims. Thus, while the disclosure isparticularly shown and described above, it will be understood by thoseskilled in the art that these and other changes in form and details maybe made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of theclaims.

1. A method for dynamically charging a heat pipe with a liquid, themethod comprising: providing the heat pipe comprising: an interface forthermally coupling a heat source to the heat pipe; a substantiallyhorizontal portion charged with a first quantity of liquid and coupledto the interface; a reservoir that contains a second quantity of theliquid; a capillary connection that connects the reservoir to thesubstantially horizontal portion; a heater thermally coupled to thereservoir; a temperature sensor in proximity to the interface; and acontroller coupled to the heater and the temperature sensor; detectingwhen the temperature detected by the temperature sensor exceeds apredetermined threshold; and in response to the detecting when thetemperature detected by the temperature sensor exceeds the predeterminedthreshold, turning on the heater to cause at least a portion of thesecond quantity of liquid in the reservoir to pass from the reservoirthrough the capillary connection into the substantially horizontalportion.
 2. The method of claim 1 further comprising: detecting when thetemperature detected by the temperature sensor is less than thepredetermined threshold; and in response to the detecting when thetemperature detected by the temperature sensor is less than thepredetermined threshold, turning off the heater to cause at least aportion of the second quantity of liquid in the substantially horizontalportion to pass from the substantially horizontal portion through thecapillary connection into the reservoir as the reservoir cools.
 3. Themethod of claim 1 wherein the heat pipe further comprises at least onevertical member connected with the substantially horizontal portion. 4.The method of claim 1 wherein the heat pipe further comprises aplurality of fins that dissipate heat.
 5. The method of claim 1 whereinthe substantially horizontal portion of the heat pipe overlies theinterface.
 6. The method of claim 1 wherein the heat pipe is made ofcopper.
 7. The method of claim 6 wherein the liquid comprises water. 8.A method for manufacturing a heat pipe comprising: providing a reservoirnear a heat pipe; attaching a capillary connection between the reservoirand the heat pipe; filling the reservoir with liquid; charging the heatpipe with liquid; and sealing the heat pipe.
 9. The method of claim 8further comprising attaching a heater to the reservoir.
 10. The methodof claim 9 further comprising programming a controller to control theheater.
 11. A method for manufacturing a heat sink comprising:constructing a heat pipe comprising: an interface for thermally couplinga heat source to the heat pipe; a substantially horizontal portioncharged with a first quantity of liquid and coupled to the interface; areservoir that contains a second quantity of the liquid; a capillaryconnection that connects the reservoir to the substantially horizontalportion; a heater thermally coupled to the reservoir; a temperaturesensor in proximity to the interface; and a controller coupled to theheater and the temperature sensor; and thermally coupling a plurality ofthermally-conductive fins to the heat pipe.